<p>Hi everyone! I was just wondering how much my chances will be affected if I apply for financial aid as an international student. I am on an h4 visa and don't need a student visa, but I am still considered international for purposes of aid. I would appreciate any advice from everyone, especially if someone has been through the same situation. I will post my stats if that would be helpful. Thanks!</p>
<p>From what I hear, applying for FA as an international student really hurts your chances for getting in. Penn is need blind for US students, and possible Canada and Mexico (not sure), but not for the rest of the world. If you need the aid, you can apply for it, but Penn does not have a lot of room for international aid students.</p>
<p>Penn is need-blind for citizens and permanent residents of the US, Canada, and Mexico. For all other international applicants, Penn takes financial need into account in admissions decisions. More can be found on this here:</p>
<p>[Penn</a> Admissions: Financial Aid for International Applicants](<a href=“http://www.admissions.upenn.edu/applying/aid.php]Penn”>http://www.admissions.upenn.edu/applying/aid.php)</p>
<p>and here:</p>
<p>[Paying</a> for a Penn Education - Undergraduate International Students](<a href=“Submit My Documents | Penn Student Registration & Financial Services| Penn Srfs”>Submit My Documents | Penn Student Registration & Financial Services| Penn Srfs)</p>
<p>Thanks for your help. Here are my stats:</p>
<p>I am an Indian international female from a large public school (500 students) </p>
<p>SAT I (breakdown): 2290 (720-R,780-M,790-W)
SAT II: 790-US History, 780-Chem, 750-bio
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA (out of 5.2): 5.16
Rank: top 1-2% </p>
<p>AP tests:
AP Biology- 5
AP European History- 5
AP Chemistry- 5
AP Statistics- 5
AP Calculus BC- 5
AP Lang&Comp- 5
AP US History- 5
AP Environmental Science- 5</p>
<p>Senior Year Course Load:
AP Physics C: Mechanics
AP US Govt
AP Latin
Multivariable Calculus (AP credit because its after Calc BC)
AP Lit
Science Olympiad</p>
<p>Awards:
National AP Scholar
Certified Oral Presenter
Bryn Mawr College Book Award
Distinguished Honor Roll (95% average in grades 9, 10, and 11)
2011 Pennsylvania State Champion in Tae Kwon Do (in events of Forms and Weapons)
ranked 10th in the World for Forms and 7th in the World for Weapons
5th place at PA State Science Olympiad in 2010 and 4th place in 2009 (3rd place in my event of Microbe Mission)
9th place at Districts Speech and Debate</p>
<p>Extracurriculars:
Science Olympiad (co-captain)
National Honor Society (executive board member)
Academic Competition Team
Math competition Team
Desis Abroad South Asian Culture Club (Vice President)
VOICES Speech and Debate
1st degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do </p>
<p>Volunteer/Community service:
Paoli hospital Patient Transport and Consigner (120hrs)
Junior Instructor for TKD (40 hrs)
Library volunteer (30 hrs)
Peer Tutor for NHS (20 hrs)</p>
<p>Is there anyone who was in the same situation as I am?</p>
<p>Hey I am also an international student applying for FA. Honestly, your stats look much better than mine. I think it largely depends on your essays (Common App & Why Penn). How are your essays, in your opinion?
Come up with good essays, and you’re in (I’m not sure abt FA though, as they may accept you but not give you enough $)</p>
<p>I applied ED from a Houston public high school as a Chinese female L2 visa International Student and got in. Since my family can afford to send me to Penn without FA (for undergrad at least) I didn’t apply for any. When I went to informational meetings all the representatives (from Stanford, Duke, Penn, etc) told me it would really hurt my chances to apply for FA.</p>
<p>Shozy, you have good stats and look like you’re applying to SEAS or CAS “in-state” so I think you’d have a chance even if you’re applying for FA. If you -really- want to go to Penn (or another noninternationalneedblind Ivy or something) and your family has the financial ability to fund your education, though, I’d advise against applying for FA. I’d recommend talking to your family about this.</p>
<p>@idonotknow, I honestly don’t know how much essays are worth during the admissions process. I believe the US-educated internationals would be at an advantage since their English are better than those of foreign-educated internationals but then you’d still be competing against other US-educated internationals anyway.</p>
<p>I don’t know how much your chances would be reduced if you apply FA as an international, although that would be an interesting stat to know. And on admissions… if you apply for FA, it will either be accepted with FA, deferred with FA or rejected. They won’t “accept you without FA” if you had applied for one.</p>
<p>Thanks Aloice! Your information was very helpful, but unfortunately, I do need FA. My mom earns $60,000 so I need the aid. Oh well! I guess the best way to find out is to just apply and wait</p>
<p>Good luck, Shozy! Yeah I’m on the lucky side since my dad currently earns 160k a year (if he goes back to China my junior/senior years of college though that would drop sharply) and my parents have some money saved up for my college education. It’s not going to help me, though, if I apply to med school… oh well. Apply anyway, you can’t lose through applying 
and maybe look out for great colleges like MIT as well (since they offer need-blind admissions even for internationals).</p>